Preventing the secondary market from spiraling out of control! OpenAI and Anthropic simultaneously tighten equity policies, causing a severe blow to the pre-IPO market.

According to Mars Finance, on May 13th, OpenAI and Anthropic almost simultaneously released/updated their official policies on their websites, explicitly declaring that all equity transfers without written consent are invalid. This includes direct sales, SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) shares, tokenized rights, and forward contracts. Both companies stated that the aforementioned so-called "equity transfers" will not be recognized in the company's books and records, the buyer will not obtain any shareholder rights, and the unconsented transfer "will not be recognized by the company and has no economic value." This significant move quickly impacted the secondary market. Tokenized products on platforms such as PreStocks (Jupiter's pre-IPO market) were hit hardest. The price of Anthropic tokens plummeted by approximately 40% within 24 hours, with an implied valuation falling sharply; OpenAI's corresponding products also fell by more than 30%. Panic emerged in the traditional secondary market, and although crypto pre-IPO perpetual contracts are pure derivatives (not representing actual equity), market sentiment still led to significant fluctuations in trading volume. OpenAI and Anthropic do not strictly prohibit "equity transfers." According to the Wall Street Journal, in a recent funding round, OpenAI allowed each employee to sell up to $30 million worth of shares. Last October, over 600 current and former employees sold their shares, raising a total of $6.6 billion. Bloomberg also reported in February that Anthropic was planning employee tender offers with a valuation of at least $350 billion, consistent with its valuation in a similar funding round. Allowing eligible current and former employees to sell a portion of their vested shares suggests that the core purpose of this move may be to maintain firm control over the equity structure and prevent "shadow shareholders" from spiraling out of control. It also aims to clear obstacles for a potential 2026 IPO (as the secondary market has previously inflated valuations far beyond official levels, affecting IPO pricing and roadshow narratives), standardize equity transfer procedures, and reduce interference from unauthorized secondary transactions on shareholder registers and valuation narratives. This policy can also circumvent US securities law risks, combat fake SPV fraud, and protect the interests of early investors and employees. This move marks a new phase of stricter regulation for AI private equity, and the premium for crypto pre-IPO products is expected to be further squeezed.